Movies: reviews, reflections, and things of that nature

Synecdoche, New York

This film was the directorial debut for prolific writer, Charlie Kaufman, and I finally got a chance to see it this past weekend. Kaufman is most well known for penning a few critically acclaimed films, Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation, (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). All three of these movies received noms for Best Original Screenplay, but Eternal Sunshine was the only one to take home the award. (It still remains to be one of the most original screenplays ever.) All these films delve pretty deep into the mind of man, whether it’s literal (in the case of BJM and even ESOTSM), or just metaphorical, like in Adaptation.

The basic premise of Synecdoche is that a theater director, Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) becomes detached from life entirely- his wife, his daughter, his friends, himself. He becomes more physically ailed as the movie progresses, and his relationships with other humans worsen too. He’s given a grant of money that pretty much allows him to create the masterpiece he’s always wanted to do. And he does it. Or at least attempts to. This masterpiece, which is somewhat of an artful clusterfuck, is an attempt to show the truest features of humankind and everything it encapsulates-life, love, but most importantly, death.

Similar to Kaufman’s past works, Synecdoche attempts to achieve this similar idea of going into the psych of a man. And then some. And then much more. The story touches up on so many facets of life, it’s hard to get a good grip on this movie.

To determine whether or not you will enjoy it, you’ll have to take into consideration your age, your gender, your past life, your present life, what you hope to be your future life. Everything. It’s a piece of art that’ll be treated differently with each viewing.

And that was certainly the point. This movie wasn’t necessarily made to answer questions. Rather, it lets us know that there are questions that are necessary to be addressed in order to truly live in such a confusing world.

My thoughts on this movie aren’t too clear yet, and for that, I apologize. It’s hard to make an opinion on something I don’t completely understand just yet. Will I ever? I sure hope so, but that will come with multiple viewings and a bit of maturing.

The movie, itself, is an astonishing feat. Its ambitiousness is evident in the first few minutes, and you get smacked in the head with the statement, “Hey, guy. This movie’s pretty deep, but it can be hard to get through. Just stick with me on this one, and it’ll all ride out.” So for some people, this movie might be a rather vapid piece of crap. But for others, it’ll be a complete work of art.

So did I enjoy it? Yes, I did. At times, it was a bit tough to get through, but the ride was pretty phenomenal. The journey inside Caden’s head was pretty riveting, and even sad to watch. Were there problems? Yes. As Kaufman’s first piece, of course there were, but for the most part, these mistakes were forgivable. I say you should give it a try. You’ll definitey learn a thing or two about yourself after watching it. But if you feel like this movie asked questions more than it answered them, don’t be upset. Kaufman’s a tricky guy in this one.